Fruits and nuts: sense and nonsense about the meaning of food

Like most people who like to cook, I enjoy watching food and cooking programs on television. And I do have my favorites. Two Fat Ladies top my list. They are real cooks, no pretensions, just cooking traditional food. On their motorbike with side-car, a vintage Triumph Thunderbird, they toured the UK rediscovering traditional home cooking with fresh ingredients, with a special liking for clotted cream, lard, and fatty meats. And with a strong dislike for vegetarians and vegans, speaking quite disparagingly about them in a humorous vein.

And it was the Two Fat Ladies, I quoted in one of my lectures at university when one of my students asked if (or rather stated that)  vegetarians and vegans in particular are morally better persons than meat-eaters because they do not kill and do not eat the pain, fear, aggression, etc. of slaughtered animals. Before sketching a more nuanced picture, my first remark was ‘Hitler was a veggie’, one of the many remarks the Two Fat Ladies made to show their aversion to vegetarians.

Yes, every food product has its own capacities, and generally speaking, there are healthy and less healthy diets. Food has a great influence on the well-being of a person, but we should make a distinction between physical (and mental) well-being and morality. Which nevertheless brings me to the ethical questions ‘Should the relatively trivial human preference for eating meat and fish be satisfied at the expense of the animal's vital interest to stay alive?’ Should one refuse to support an essentially cruel practice, if an alternative is available?

Why bring up a quote by the Two Fat Ladies? It is enough to remember the old maxim Judge not lest ye be judged!

 

Soft Brownies with orange peel and walnuts

 

Ingredients:

225 gr. dark brown caster sugar

150 gr. extra dark chocolate

150 gr. vegan butter, soft

4 tablespoon brown ground flaxseed plus 12 tablespoons water

1 teaspoon psyllium

125 gr. candied orange peel

125 gr. walnuts

100 gr. flour

1 teaspoon baking powder 

pinch of salt

Powdered sugar to decorate

Preparation:

Mix the 4 tablespoons of ground flaxseed with the12 tablespoons of water. Stir together until thick and gelatinous and let rest for 10 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 160°C.

Grease and flour a square 19x19 cm or round 22 cm diameter baking pan.

Melt the chocolate in the microwave or au-bain-marie. Mix with the vegan butter and sugar. Add flaxseed and mix well, add flour and mix well. Add baking powder and mix. Mix the orange peels and walnuts into the batter.

Pour the batter into the baking pan and bake for 60 minutes or until a toothpick or skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Let the brownies cool and decorate with powdered sugar.